Biography of Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry was one of 11 children and they all lived with their
father, John Gurney of Earlham – a Norwich banker. They belonged to a
society of friends – also known as the ‘Quakers’. Quakers believe that
Christian sacraments such as baptism are not important. What they say
is ‘Far more important’ is bringing man closer to God by using the
“inner light” of Jesus in the soul. And because of this “inner light”
the Quakers became involved in social reform movements.
In their meetings the hall is usually silent apart from one or two
speakers being male or female. This is how Elizabeth met the one who
inspired her the most, William Savery. A man who with his words
touched her heart, when he spoke at several of the Quaker meetings she
had attended.
When Elizabeth was twenty she met her husband, Joseph Fry. Once she
had been married for thirteen years, she began to become involved in
what was to be ‘Her life’s work’. An American Quaker visited her
household and told her of the poor conditions in which some women
prisoners and their children were living in, in a prison in Newgate.
Some of these conditions were horrific and therefore she went to visit
them to find out the extent of it. There was great overcrowding, and
some women were forced to sleep on dirty, damp straw because of the
lack of beds. There were no medicines, or doctors for that matter, and
a great deal of fighting and drunkenness. Elizabeth and her friends
took the prison some clean straw and some old clothes, and later she
managed to visit the women’s section of the prison.
Elizabeth Fry never forgot those scenes she saw in Newgate prison. For
the next few years or so, she was busy caring for her growing family
of ten children. However, in 1817, she found herself back at the
prison again. After two more visits to the prison, Elizabeth found
herself to be somewhat committed to the women in the prison, trying to
Dorothea Lynne Dix was a social reformer dedicated to changing conditions for people who were incapable of helping themselves. Her passion for helping people who couldn't aid themselves started at a young age. She was born on April 4, 1802, in the town of Hampden in Maine. Her father was an alcoholic and her mother was a frail person susceptible to many illnesses. Dorothea was the oldest of all her siblings, so she grew up taking care of her younger brothers and sisters. Yet, at the age of ten, Dorothea ran away to Boston and went to live with her grandmother, who agreed to train and educate her. Dorothea was taught by her father as a young girl, and therefore was an avid reader and quick learner with Grandmother Dix. (Buckmaster 10-20) Dorothea, a very self-conscious and shy girl, didn't fit into the society of Boston and therefore was sent by her grandmother to live with her aunt. Her...
Women slaves were subject to unusually cruel treatment such as rape and mental abuse from their master’s, their unique experience must have been different from the experience men slaves had. While it is no secret that the horrors of the institution of slavery were terrible and unimaginable; those same horrors were no big deal for southern plantation owners. Many engaged in cruelty towards their slaves. Some slave owners took particular interest in their young female slaves. Once caught in the grips of a master’s desire it would have been next to impossible to escape. In terms of actual escape from a plantation most women slaves had no reason to travel and consequentially had no knowledge of the land. Women slaves had the most unfortunate of situations; there were no laws that would protect them against rape or any injustices. Often the slave that became the object of the master’s desires would also become a victim of the mistress of the household. Jealousy played a detrimental role in the dynamic the enslaved women were placed within. Regardless of how the slave felt she could have done little to nothing to ease her suffering.
In the seventeenth century, a commanding female public minister emerged during the radical religious movement of Quakerism. Margaret Askew Fell Fox was one of the founding members of the Religious Society of Friends, and was popularly known as the "Mother of Quakerism". She has been known less as a minister and more as a founder and provider of financial support then other young women. Throughout this paper I will refer to her as Fell Fox, name she acquired through marriages during her lifetime. Through her struggles and triumphs, radical actions and beliefs, and her desire to worship God, Fell Fox had a significant impact on the world around her. In this essay, I hope to share how Fell Fox’s life, writings, and actions contributed to her radical contribution to life in seventeenth century England.
Anne Hutchinson was daughter of an Anglican minister that sailed over seas from England to Massachusetts in 1634. They joined the puritans in Massachusetts. Anne Hutchinson led meetings at her home for prayers and studying the bible. She talked about the importance of doing good things rather than receiving god’s forgiveness of our sins to be saved. The puritan’s ministers were offended by the way her discussions led to and preaching. John Winthrop found out and didn’t like it so he wanted to put Anne Hutchinson on a trial. Hutchinson was accused of breaking the 5th amendment, “honor thy father and thy mother”. Anne said that good spoke to her soul directly. Ministers found her guilty and was sentenced to imprisonment and was banished from the colony. In the 19th century Anne Hutchinson was seen as a heroine of religious freedom. Also in
Gender was the leading cause of distress in the 1500’s: King Henry VIII wanted nothing more than to have a son, yet was “cursed” with the legacy of a sickly son, whom died before the age of 18 and two daughters, one of whom broke every convention of her gender. Queen Elizabeth I never married nor had children, yet can be considered one of England’s most successful monarchs. By choosing King James VI of Scotland as her heir, unbeknownst to her, she created the line that leads to the modern Queen of England, Elizabeth II. The question posed is then, how did Elizabeth I’s gender affect her rule?
Anthony was “Elizabeth Cady Stanton, born in Johnstown, New York.” She was fortunate enough, unlike most girls in her time, to “received the best female education available at the time, at Emma Willard’s Academy.” One day while attending a social activity at her cousin, abolitionist Gerrit Smith’s house she fell in love with another abolitionist, Henry B. Stanton. Henry was an older, “romantic figure, who was part of the world of reform”, this made him all the more attractive to Elizabeth. Her father was absolutely opposed to her relationship with Stanton but “despite her father’s [disapproval], they married in 1840 and [chose to go] to London to attend the World’s Antislavery Convention for their honeymoon.” There Cady met “Lucretia Mott, the leading American female abolitionist, [who inspired her to] study the Anglo-American traditions of women’s rights.” After the honeymoon and some time being married “the Stantons moved to rural Seneca Falls, New York, in 1847 where she had the last three of their seven children.” Being tired of her social confinement she, with the “help of Mott, organized the world’s first women’s rights convention and insisted on including the
Susan’s interest for helping others began during her Quaker upbringing. Quakers believed in education, selflessness, charity, and generosity. “They believed in peace, temperance and justice,
Elizabeth Bishop was born on February 8, 1911, in Worcester, Massachusetts and died on October 6, 1979. When she was less than a year old, her father died, and shortly thereafter, her mother was committed to a mental asylum. Bishop was first sent to live with her maternal grandparents in Nova Scotia and later lived with paternal relatives in Worcester and South Boston. After a childhood and adolescence marked by asthma and other psychic and bodily ailments, as well as frequent domestic removals and changes of caregiver, Bishop finally made it to a good preparatory school and then, with family help, to Vassar College. She also found her life mentor, Marianne Moore, in Vassar College. Bishop had an independent income in early adulthood, as a result of an inheritance from her deceased father, that did not run out until the end of her life. With this inheritance, Bishop was able to travel widely with a violent aimlessness through France, England, Ireland, Mexico, Morocco, Key West, and elsewhere without worrying about employment. She wrote frequently about her love of travel in poems like “Questions of Travel” and “Over 2000 Illustrations and a Complete Concordance.” (famouspoetsandpoems.com)
In conclusion, women were considered property and slave holders treated them as they pleased. We come to understand that there was no law that gave protection to female slaves. Harriet Jacob’s narrative shows the true face of how slaveholders treated young female slave. The female slaves were sexually exploited which damaged them physically and psychologically. Furthermore it details how the slave holder violated the most sacred commandment of nature by corrupting the self respect and virtue of the female slave. Harriet Jacob writes this narrative not to ask for pity or to be sympathized but rather to show the white people to be aware of how female slaves constantly faced sexual exploitation which damaged their body and soul.
In 1840, Elizabeth married an abolitionist organizer named Henry Stanton, much to her family’s dismay.
Bettye Naomi Goldstein, better known as Betty Friedan, was an American feminist. She was born on February 4, 1921, in Peoria, Illinois. Her book The Feminine Mystique was very helpful for a lot of women to find fulfillment outside of their traditional roles.. She was also one of the co-founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and its first President. Betty was a good student at Smith College (All-female college), from where she graduated in 1942 with a bachelor's degree. She got married 5 years later and had three children. People that knew her said that she was one of those women that would stay at home to take care of her family. But as many other women, she got tired of her routine and that’s when she started to get an interest in equality of gender. She knew something was going on, and so did other women, but none of them seemed to realize what this problem was.
Queen Elizabeth the First took on the formidable task of becoming queen at the young age of twenty-five. Despite her age, she ruled over England with all the wisdom of grace that one should. It has been argued that Queen Elizabeth I was a big part in Europe not being involved in the religious wars that tore apart many European states during the 1500’s.
From the beginning of this work, the woman is shown to have gone mad. We are given no insight into the past, and we do not know why she has been driven to the brink of insanity. The “beautiful…English place” that the woman sees in her minds eye is the way men have traditionally wanted women to see their role in society. As the woman says, “It is quite alone standing well back from the road…It makes me think of English places…for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people. There is a delicious garden! I never saw such a garden—large and shady, full of box-bordered paths, and lined with long grape-covered arbors with seats under them.” This lovely English countryside picture that this woman paints to the reader is a shallow view at the real likeness of her prison. The reality of things is that this lovely place is her small living space, and in it she is to function as every other good housewife should. The description of her cell, versus the reality of it, is a very good example of the restriction women had in those days. They were free to see things as they wanted, but there was no real chance at a woman changing her roles and place in society. This is mostly attributed to the small amount of freedom women had, and therefore they could not bring about a drastic change, because men were happy with the position women filled.
Throughout the novel, the reader follows Elizabeth through her struggle to maintain her personal identity, despite what her mother, sisters, and other women in society think of her. Elizabeth enjoys physical activities, such as walking , which is uncommon for women in the society in which she lives. “She has nothing, in short, to recommend her, but being an excellent walker. I shall never forget her appearance this morning. She really looked almost wild.” (Austen, 24). The women often look upon Elizabeth negatively due to her behaviour and personality, especially for her outspokenness, which was especially uncommon and unacceptable upon women. “‘Lizzy’, cried...
Elizabeth was also a huge contributor to theater during the Renaissance. She had a love for theater, and that love spread throughout the